Jenna's Two Cents Blog   
Website: JennaEsposito.com   

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

One More Thing

Oops, I forgot to mention - there's a brand new cabaret website headed up by Scott Barbarino called Cabaret Exchange. It's got some great features and looks like it's going to be a great addition to our little cabaret world. Check it out!

Eric Michael Gillett, Vocal Ease, Christine Lavin, and more!

Hello all!
Well, even though I've been "taking it easy" to try to save some money for funding my cd (by the way, if anyone wants to be a "sponsor," please shoot me an email!), I've still managed to pack in quite a bit in the past week! On Thursday evening, I went to my favorite haunt, the Metropolitan Room to see Eric Michael Gillett's show. I'd heard great things about Eric from well-trusted sources, so I was very excited to see him for myself! The room was PACKED and the energy was palpable, and I'm happy to say that Mr. Gillett just took that energy and ran with it! Fantastic arrangements were provided by musical director D. Jay Bradley, and the backup vocalists and the band rocked! Eric's vocals were great, and the song selection was comprised of radio hits from the '60s through the '80s - surefire crowd pleasers! Additionally, great lights and sound (by Michael Barbieri and J.P. Perraux, respectively) contributed to an all-around great show.
On Sunday, I did a show with Vocal Ease, which was a great way to spend the afternoon. I know I've written about Vocal Ease before, but just to refresh your memories (or tell you for the first time, if you haven't read my previous entries!), Vocal Ease is a nonprofit volunteer singing organization that provides live entertainment for New York City's senior citizens at hospitals, nursing homes and senior centers and residences. It's headed up by Eva Swan, who does an incredible job of putting together shows with some of the city's best performers, and booking them all over the city - and in so doing, bringing a lot of joy to some of the people who need it most! Sunday's show was even more touching than usual, as we were performing for Holocaust survivors and their families. I shared the stage with Eva, Gretchen Reinhagen, Dane Reese, and the fabulous Eugene Gwozdz was our accompanist. As I said, a GREAT way to spend a Sunday afternoon!
Monday found me dashing off after my voice lesson to meet Christine Lavin at a recording studio and provide some backup vocals for her forthcoming album - what fun! Joining me on backups were my boyfriend Rob Langeder, Joan Crowe, David Goldman, Janet Fanale, Jenny Lynn Stewart and another friend of Christine's who was visiting the city. We all had a great time, and then we headed uptown to Cast Party and had a great time there, as well! A very busy but very fun Monday!
Tonight, it's off to see the Yankees play the Red Sox - keep your fingers crossed that our boys play the way we know they're capable of playing and crush the Sox, or it could be a VERY long night in the bleachers!
That's about all for now, but check back for more soon!

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Jenna in the Studio!

Hello and Happy Tuesday! If you've noticed that I haven't updated in over 10 days, there's a good reason why - I've been completely occupied working on my first CD! We started in the studio on Sunday, and most of last week was spent prepping. It's being produced by Kelly Park, who's also playing piano on it. One of the cool parts about doing the cd is that it's given me the chance to work with some incredible musicians including the aforementioned Mr. Park; my Dad, Fortune Esposito (guitar); Buca Necak (bass); Kent Bryson (drums); Michael Blanco (bass); Brian DeWitt (drums); my fab sis, Kelly Esposito-Broelmann (backup vocals); Rob Langeder (backup vocals) and Brian Broelmann (tenor sax). I'm really excited about the project. We're hoping to wrap up the mixing this week, so look for more updates on it soon!
Beyond that, there's not a heck of a lot to report - as I said, the CD has been consuming most of my time. I DID see an awesome show at the Metropolitan Room last week, though - Kristine Zbornik put on one of the funniest shows I've seen in a long time. She's zany and off the wall and man, can she sing! She's got one performance of this run left on May 21st at 7 p.m. If you haven't seen it, GO!
And speaking of the fabulous Metropolitan Room, they threw a fantastic one-year-anniversary bash last night. I was there on opening night last year to see Billy Stritch's Mel Torme show, and I am thrilled that the club has been so successful. Congrats to the Mazzilli brothers, Lennie Watts, and the wonderful staff there! After the party, we headed uptown to the OTHER party - yep, it was a Cast Party night and, as usual, it was really fun time! I was fortunate enough to have my producer/piano player extraordinaire, Mr. Kelly Park, with me, so he accompanied me on my song, and we had a great time doing it!
I'm exhausted today, but looking forward to heading to the studio after work to work on the CD...check for more updates soon!

Friday, May 04, 2007

TGIF!

Well, it's been an exhausting but fun week. Monday's Broadway By The Year (1959) was great - one of the best that I've seen! The musicals that year included "The Sound of Music," "Gypsy," Once Upon a Mattress," and "Fiorello," so it was a very entertaining show. Great performances all around made it even better! Believe it or not, I was actually TOO TIRED to go to Cast Party afterwards! I know, I know - highly unusual for me, but I guess I do need some sleep every now and then!
On Tuesday night, it was MAC award time. The show was about 3 and a half hours long, but it kept moving, and was filled with great entertainment. The first award of the evening (Best Male Debut) went to my boyfriend, Rob Langeder, so a big congrats to him! The full list of winners is available on the MAC website (link above), so be sure to check that out! The awards show was held at B.B. King's , which was great. It makes sense to hold an awards show for nightclub acts in an actual nightclub. It was a much more relaxed, party-like atmosphere than I'd seen at the MAC awards before, and it really seemed like everyone had a great time. After the show, our group headed over the the post-show party at Helen's, where we had a great time schmoozing and chowing down on the fabulous buffet they had set up!
On Wednesday night, I was back at Helen's for Shawn Ryan's show, "Shawn Ryan and Friends." Shawn was accompanied by the fabulous Kelly Park trio, and had three "friends" come up and do a few numbers each...the friends were Brandon Cutrell, Shaynee Rainbolt, and ME! Yes, I was very honored to be asked, and had a great time singing with Kelly and the boys. So, a big thank you to Shawn for inviting me to participate. My part aside, the show was just a lot of fun. Shawn is so very likeable onstage and has some fabulous arrangements of great songs. Looking forward to his next trip out here, whenever that may be!
Tonight, I'm headed upstate for some rehearsing...because we will be heading into the studio next weekend to finish up my cd! Yay!
Anyway, hope everyone has a terrific weekend. More to come soon!